Fashion Weeks Bring New Clothing Lines for Two Heritage Brands

Hello-Hello, happy Monday to everyone.

Today we look at two heritage brands launching their first collections of RTW (ready to wear) styles, the clothing debuts with the fall 2014 season. The first isCoach, previously discussed in this space on more than one occasion. Frequently your faithful correspondent would whine & complain voice concerns about cheapening of the brand: the bags buried in logos, a factory outlet store on every corner, and sporadic quality issues are the primary culprits. A more educated view comes from Stan Ackman, a stock analyst interested in one thing: the company’s performance.

Factory Stores Caused the Brand Problem

The problem all stems from factory stores. It is OK to have small amount of your store base as factory stores to sell aged inventories at a higher margin. But over-reliance on factory stores is a problem. A while ago, in order to gain consumers who would otherwise not buy a regular-price Coach bag, Coach came up with a solution to promote its factory store bags. It has opened more factory stores than regular stores in North America for years and frequently gave coupons to the factory store channel.

Just a few days ago Coach introduced its first collection of ready to wear at New York Fashion Week. Women’s Wear Daily profiled the company’s new Creative Director, Stuart Vevers:

In four months, the designer pulled together the new direction for the brand, which he hopes the fall women’s collection will crystallize. It features a full apparel lineup — outerwear being a focus — and a new, younger vibe for Coach’s accessories assortment.

If there was an added pressure to turn around Coach’s less-than-stellar recent financial results, particularly in the North American market, Vevers doesn’t show it.

Courtesy Photos

More on the line itself from The Telegraph:

For a designer who’s been brought into re-invent a 70-year-old brand, there’s probably no bigger compliment than the “of course” reaction.

Of course Coach’s brand new ready-to-wear line should look the way Stuart Vevers has conceived it: a bit preppie, a hint of down-town and wholly American.

Coach Courtesy Photos

Suzy Menkes reviewed the collection in Friday’s NY Times:

Stuart Vevers, who set out to give the brand a streetwise edge and a bit of downtown cool but without forgoing its status as an all-American fashion label.

Most of all, in an era when American designers sometimes seem to forget that sportswear is their country’s heritage, Coach looks ready to step in, to modernize and to make good outfits — from round top hat to shearling-covered toe.

Taken alone, removed from the ensembles and ashen models showcasing the looks, there are many isolated pieces that work. I’m sure several of the sheepskin coats will be dynamite, especially on the younger demo the brand is trying to attract. The exaggerated houndstooth will be fun for that age group, the parkas and other jackets are likely to be snuggly warm. Are the styles going to bring all those customers Coach lost back in to the fold? That is doubtful, at best.

Back to the WWD story:

Much of it captures a workwear vibe. Some coats are rendered in sheepskin; typically American references include varsity jackets and a knitted sweater with a motif of Apollo One. “It’s the American dream,” he said.

Coach Courtesy Photos

A brief portion of Fashionista’s story, touching on a key challenge for the brand:

Consider this a warning Michael Kors, Tory Burch: Coach is coming for you.

Or they’re trying to anyway.

The handbag and accessories titan is getting a makeover–and making a play for the lifestyle sector of the market, currently dominated by Burch and Kors, is part of their new strategy….

The Kors/Burch/other labels issue is a challenge for Coach. Competitors focused on growing their core brand while Coach seemed to be focused on opening factory outlet stores.

More from Suzy Menkes:

Standout accessories in his collection are solid platform-soled boots with furry linings, and bags with a focus on useful pockets rather than elaborate hardware, which he said would start at a modest $400 rather than the $2,000 European luxury pricing that is common today.

Most of all, in an era when American designers sometimes seem to forget that sportswear is their country’s heritage, Coach looks ready to step in, to modernize and to make good outfits — from round top hat to shearling-covered toe.

Stepping back from the apparel line, a look at spring footwear shows a range of styles, from chunky, boho heels…….

Coach

To elegant fabrics and basic heels, proof the company can still do many things right.

Coach

Other spring styles are sleek and understated.

Coach

Yours truly hopes Mr. Vevers and his team can find a way to resuscitate the brand. It will be a very tough road, especially if $458 sweatshirts remain part of the mix.

Coach

If interested in looking at the full range of next fall’s Coach clothing & accessory styles shown at Fashion Week, click here.

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When thinking of Hunter the company’s boots come to mind. Some may envision the classic original boot while others think of hipper styles, like the collaboration with Rag & Bone shown on the right.

Hunter Facebook

The company, “…long a symbol of British Country life,” has continued to grow, changing with the times.

Hunter Facebook

Now the heritage brand is launching clothing. More from British Vogue:

Hunter has a lot going for it. It has heritage, it has reason (its product – wellingtons – being especially relevant in Britain right now), it has fashion resonance (you can’t move for a Hunter welly on the festival fields), and now it has a new creative director in the shape of Alasdhair Willis – Stella McCartney’s husband – appointed to the role this time last year.

Hunter Boots Facebook

The new collection was shown at London Fashion Week this past Friday. Once again we turn to The Telegraph’s Lisa Armstrong for insight; from her article on the collection:

 ”…the first Hunter ready-to-wear collection, comes at Britishness side-long, with Paddington Bear duffels in sou’wester yellow, cobalt blue and pillar-box red, scores of wellingtons, chunky knitwear – and neoprene.

There are men’s and women’s style in the collection, we’ll focus on the womenswear.  Ms. Armstrong’s column references the weekend in 2005 when model Kate Moss was seen wearing a pair of the boots at the Glastonbury Music Festival, the quotes are from creative director Alasdhair Willis.

Ever since Kate Moss resurrected (that’s not too strong a word) Hunter, which was teetering on insolvency, by appearing in a muddy field in Hunter willies and miniature hot-pants in 2005, the brand has been fighting back. Willis was hired a year ago and has been grappling with the slippery subject of Britishness ever since.

“In this country, everyone knows it’s British – there’s an incredibly strong emotional connection. Abroad it’s more elusive. That’s good. I hate it when brands milk the British angle by simply slapping on a Union Jack. True Britishness is the opposite of that. It’s quirky and it’s independent. It’s an incredibly valuable asset and you don’t want to flog it to death and ruin it for everyone”.

Hunter Courtesy Photos

From Style.com’s review:

When the first looks hit the runway—as if by magic—any lingering skepticism melted away: The clothes were really good.

Functional details abounded: double enforcing with two zippers on a fleece jacket, big pockets to carry survival instruments, shorts for wading through floods, a fierce balaclava—presumably to rob Mother Nature, not a bank.

Willis also said he wants to move Hunter away from the “festival girl” tag it has been saddled with in the U.K.  The label did outfit soldiers in the muddy trenches of World War I long before anyone pulled on its boots at Glastonbury.

British Vogue’s verdict:

“Focused, practical and in a paint-box palette of shades, it was a great and strong start for a new chapter of this brand.”

via:http://preppyprincessblog.com/2014/02/17/fashion-weeks-bring-new-clothing-lines-for-two-heritage-brands/